


Sunrise

by nadia5803



Series: nadia’s king lear au [2]
Category: King Lear - Shakespeare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:42:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22484335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadia5803/pseuds/nadia5803
Summary: An old friend returns.
Series: nadia’s king lear au [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612093
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Sunrise

It had to have been just seven in the morning when Edgar awoke to the sound of a car alarm wailing outside. Half-asleep, he stumbled out of bed in a daze, kicking on his sneakers and checking to see if Kent had gotten up. He pushed in the door, stuck his head in, and closed it right back after seeing the man still splayed out and asleep on the bed. 

Keeping his arms out for balance as he hurried down the stairs, muffling a yawn and throwing on a sweater as the car alarm blared in the distance. He ran a hand through his hair, groped around blindly for his Swiss army knife in his drawer, and just slightly opened the door to see what was going on. 

The sun had just barely crested the horizon, and the sky was still a pale shade of silver with a few red clouds streaked on. A flock of birds panicked and flew from the sound of the car alarm. Edgar looked around the street, rubbing his eyes and yawning when a familiar voice shook the air. 

“Oh, COME ON!”

He blinked and shook his head, and made out a shock of golden hair from across the street bundled up in a bright red coat and oversized boots, aggressively fighting with the old car in a fruitless attempt to silence the alarm. It took Edgar a minute to realize who the car-kicking bandit was, and his mouth dropped open as he stared. The person looked up, squinting as they stared right back, but soon the realization came to them as well.

Edgar reached in his pocket. They leaned against the car and waited, looking at their nails with impatience as Edgar searched. He shed his jacket and picked it up, feeling the pockets for the particular thing he was looking for, and grinned when he felt the rigid box in one of the stuffed pockets. Reaching in, and guiding his way through a multitude of junk and other knickknacks, Edgar pulled out the coveted MacGuffin. An unopened box of Bicycle cards. 

“I believe this belongs to you?” Edgar asked, holding up the cards and swallowing back a yawn. 

They grinned, and Edgar finally confirmed the face to the person. Giving their car one final and useless kick, they walked over to the porch, wrenching the cards out of Edgar’s hand and wrapping their arms around him in a hug. “You fucking thief, you never gave me back my fucking cards.”  
Edgar wheezed and hugged back, almost lifting them off their feet. “You never came back for them.”

“Now I did,”

They grinned and released Edgar, doubling back and leaning on the porch’s siding. Looking him up and down with their lips pursed, they granted Edgar a nod and a thumbs up. “Well, you cleaned up awfully well.”

“Seems that you finally learned to dress like a person.”

“I could say the same for you.”

The Fool crossed their legs and flashed another sly smile at Edgar as they sat up on the ledge. “You have a house now. Look at that. And a shower. And clothes! Aaaaand an education. That’s bloody well. I’m glad to see you.” Edgar reddened, sticking his hands into the pockets of his coat and staring down at his unlaced sneakers. “I guess I am too. It’s sort of a bad time, though. I just woke up, dude. A call would have been nice.”

“You know how I am,” The Fool laid flat on the ledge, kicking their legs and staring at Edgar with a smile. “I don’t call. I’m very good at leaving and arriving without notice.”

“Yeah, I can tell. You left at about the worst time,” Edgar’s expression turned to one of seriousness as the Fool sat up.

“I heard.” Their face dropped as they mimicked Edgar’s stoic expression, but they quickly brightened back into their facetious smile. “It’s very sad. Sad for you, too. I’m actually very sorry. I don’t seem awfully sorry but I am. Poor thing. You just about lost everyone.” As they reached a comforting arm out, Edgar took a step back, shaking his head. 

“No thanks.”

The Fool kicked their legs over the ledge and patted the space next to them. “Talk to me.” Reluctantly, Edgar took a seat beside them and stared out at the rising sun. 

“It all happened so fast after you left. Everyone fit to lead is dead, Cordelia’s still in a coma, Albany dropped off the face of the Earth and Kent’s a lazy slob. I’m technically supposed to be leading now. And it’s hard. It’s really hard, and nobody’s helping.”

Edgar sighed and pushed his hair out of his face, tilting his head up to look at the sky. “But I guess I’m glad you’re back.”

“I know you are. I’m the best,” they grinned and jabbed him playfully with their elbow. Edgar smiled and kicked his legs as the Fool rested their head on his shoulder and wrapped a gentle arm around him. “Hey, you’re not alone. I’ll help you, okay? I’m here for you always. You don’t have to deal with this mess alone.”

“Thanks.”

“And I’ll whip Kent into shape for you.”

“I’m not sure that you can get to him. I sure can’t.”

“I got to Lear after a while,” the Fool scratched their neck and chuckled. “Once you do that, you can pretty much get to anyone, Poor Tom.” Edgar snorted and cupped his face in his hands. The Fool grinned in their signature way and mocked Edgar’s position. “God, I missed you,” Edgar murmured, slapping them on the back.

“I missed you too. Now, this seems rather half handed, but I have to ask,” the Fool slid off their place on the ledge, looking up at the large estate from their place on the porch. Edgar looked up too - it was not a small house. Three stories, more rooms than he could count on his fingers, plus a bunch of hidden trick rooms created by his father. It was impossible to tell just how big the Gloucester estate was, but one thing was for sure. It may have been a mansion, but it was still larger than most. 

The Fool stared at an observant Edgar and studied his face with a smile. “I was hoping I could, uh, well…” With a wave of his finger, Edgar cut him off. “Of course you can stay. There’s a place for you here. Kent will probably gripe about it but you’ll get used to it, he gripes over everything.”

“Cool,” the Fool said, placing their hands at their sides and glancing wayward at their car. “Well, thanks. I’ll pay you back, you know.”

“Oh, you don’t have to pay me back!” Edgar replied with a smile, placing his hands on theirs. “My house is yours too. You can be my advisor. Or court jester. Whatever you prefer.”

The Fool grinned. “Thanks.”

In the distance, the sun finally rose above the horizon, painting the sky a soft orange that ate up the vast grayness.


End file.
